A dissertation Submitted to the School of Public Administration in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of a Degree of Master of Public Administration of Mzumbe University.
The general objective of this study was to identify factors employees consider as most important and likely to motivate them most in their jobs. Three research questions were set for this study; these were: What factors the employees find most motivating in the case study organization? Are there any factors the staff find demotivating at their work place? What approaches are used to motivate employees in the case study organization?
The study employed a case study research design to answer the above research questions where Airtel company headquarters-Dar es Salaam was selected as the area of the study. Both primary and secondary techniques of data collection including interview, questionnaire and informal discussion were employed. The sample consisted of 70 respondents including 62 questionnaire respondents who were employees randomly selected from the case study organization and 8 interview respondents who were managers (senior officials) purposively selected from the company. Quantitative data were analysed by means of descriptive statistics using frequencies, tables and percentages while the qualitative responses were coded and categorised and analysed into themes in relation to the research questions and interpreted with a view to answering the research questions. To preserve originality of the study the respondents talk was presented verbatim.
The findings of the study show that both job related and non job related factors were important in employees’ motivation. Job related factors the employees considered to be motivating in Airtel company were: promotion, training and development opportunities, recognizing of employees’ effort and performance. The non job related factors employees considered as important for their motivation included: salary, rewarding the hard working employees, good working conditions, monthly/annual bonuses and organizing parties on regular basis. The findings are consistent with Herzberg’s two factors theory in that the factors described by the respondents as most motivating reflect both intrinsic (job related) and extrinsic (non job related) motivators.
The study also examined factors employees considered to be demotivating in their jobs and approaches made by the company to address them. De-motivational factors mentioned included: lack of enough training and development opportunities, lack of enough appreciation of employees’ contributions and effort, unfair impractical performance appraisal by the organizations, poor management and administration style from their supervisors, favouritism and lack of promotion opportunities. While the approaches used were: organizing regular in-service training, reasonable salaries, employee recognition, and employee involvement in company decision making process, establishing effective communication between management and employees.
Based on the findings, the study recommends that the company needs to put in place strategies to ensure the motivation packages offered are sustainable. It also needs to investigate and address the factors reported in this study as dissatisfying. Finally the company should continue to award good and outstanding performance to encourage a performance culture among the employees.